


in a name

by halcyonlauren



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28917072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halcyonlauren/pseuds/halcyonlauren
Summary: this is a gallavich ficlet. I wrote this because I had a headcanon, and I’m new to shameless and the ian gallagher + mickey milkovich pairing
Relationships: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	in a name

Ian Gallagher is 15 and has always known Mickey Milkovich as simply Mickey. He’d always assumed it was a nickname but never gave a lot of thought as to what it was a nickname for. In the long list of priorities that filled up his life, knowing Mickey’s real name was somewhere at the bottom of the list. That was before they started fucking, and spending time together. Now that he was around Mickey more and more, he became familiar with every tick, word, expression, that came from Mickey even as he still kept Ian at arm’s length when they weren’t having sex.

There were so many emotional walls built up, but he didn’t care. He liked Mickey, liked being around him, liked being inside him, liked talking to him, about everything and nothing. It was easy being with him, not to mention fun, passionate, thrilling. He was happier when he was with Mickey. He felt alive when he was with him. Sometimes he thought he could see a flash of vulnerability in Mickey, but it would be gone again almost as quickly. Ian wanted to see more of it.

One day something inside his head snapped forward, and without a lot of prompting he asks if Mickey is short for something. Mickey looks at him and asks why he’s asking stupid fucking questions like that, and Ian kind of expected that answer. When he tries again, he’s told to fuck off for his troubles. Ian doesn’t get what the big deal is. It’s not like he’s asking for his social security number, just his first fucking name.

Thinking back, even when they were in school and little league together, he’d always gone by Mickey. Mandy would tell him if he asked. They were best friends and told each other everything. Well. Almost everything. He just had to wait for her to get back from visiting her aunt. Mickey gets sent to juvie again before he gets the chance to ask her about the name, and he gets distracted by other things.

Ian Gallagher is 16 and feels his heart beat faster when Mickey walks up to him and Mandy when he’s released from juvie. He visited him a lot, but seeing him in person again gives him a rush. 

As they leave together, Ian takes advantage of being between the Milkovich siblings by wrapping his arms around their shoulders in a maybe not so subtle attempt to touch Mickey without bringing attention to the act. Mickey almost immediately shrugs off his hand as they walk, but for the briefest moments Ian could feel Mickey’s warm skin, and the firm muscles in his body.

Mickey leaves Ian and Mandy when they reach the Milkovich house, claiming he had some business to attend to before dumping his belongings in his room then going out, not explaining any further than that. 

When he’s alone with Mandy in her room doing summer homework, Ian asks what Mickey’s real name is. 

Mandy asks why he wants to know, and he tells her the truth, that he’s curious and had been wondering about it but Mickey wouldn’t tell him. After muttering that he was being a secretive asshole for no damn reason, she reveals his full name is Mikhailo Aleksandr Milkovich.

Ian asks her to repeat the pronunciation, then to spell it. He commits it to memory, then goes back to their papers, not bringing Mickey up again for the rest of the time they work.

Later that night as he goes with Mickey to the baseball field, he thinks about his name, over and over again, repeating it in his head. 

Mikhailo. 

Mikhailo Milkovich.

Mikhailo Aleksandr Milkovich.

His Mickey. 

His Mikhailo. 

It was so Eastern European. Extremely Ukrainian. Incredibly Slavic. It didn’t sound like the name of a South Side thug, it sounded…like the name of a character in an old fairy tale. Mikhailo. He’d never heard that name before tonight. It was…pretty. And pretty wasn’t normally something one associated with Mickey Milkovich, but he was. He was pretty, under all the foul language, fights, rude behavior, ratty clothes. Mickey had a pretty face, a pretty body, all taut and muscular and lean, pretty, bright blue eyes, pretty, soft black hair, pretty, cocky smile he only showed Ian when it was just the two of them.

Mikhailo Aleksandr. Anglicized it was Michael Alexander. No. That didn’t sound right to Ian’s mind. It was too plain, too formal. It wasn’t special, not how Mikhailo Aleksandr was. It lacked the lyrical beauty Mickey’s full name had. 

Mikhailo. 

Mikhailo. 

Mikhailo.

Mikhailo Mikhailo Mikhailo Mikhailo.

Ian repeats the name in his head, four consonants, four vowels, eight letters, three syllables. Mi-khai-lo. Emphasis on the second syllable. Mikhailo. The most beautiful name in the entire world.

As they walk, Ian calls Mickey by his first name, causing his companion to stop in his tracks, and demand to know who told him. He says that it was Mandy, and Mickey’s response is to mutter that of course she told him. Ian asks why it’s such a big secret, as they walk along the streets, Mickey explains that Mikhailo isn’t exactly a name that strikes fear into people, where’s the threat in a name like that? Oh, because Mickey is such a terrifying name, Ian snarks. Mickey flips him off, shaking his head. It’s better than the alternative, he offers. He guesses that’s true. As much as he loves the name Mikhailo, he can’t deny the name Mickey suits him just as much.

Ian asks if he can call him Mikhailo when they’re alone, and Mickey tells him he can do whatever the fuck he wants, pretending not to give a fuck about what Ian does or doesn’t do. He doesn’t call him Mikhailo when they’re walking alone together, or when they’re at the baseball field talking and fucking for hours. In front of the Milkovich house, Ian tells Mickey goodnight, and Mickey tells him he’ll see him tomorrow as he goes inside.

While he heads toward the Gallagher home, Ian says the name out loud, quietly, to himself again and again and again, slowly, quickly, at a regular pace, he says the name like a secret worshipful prayer from his lips to his ears, a name only for him, and him alone, taking his time as he walks, wanting to say the name some more before he has to stop.

Mikhailo, he whispers as he stands in front of his family’s house, seeing the lights off, silence surrounds the area, letting him know that everyone there is fast asleep. He hopes that’s the case, that no one is awake to question him coming home at 3:30 in the morning. He steps inside, locking the door behind him before kicking his shoes off and heading to the room he shares with his brothers, collapsing into bed, Mickey’s face and voice are the last things Ian thinks about before falling into a deep sleep.

In the morning, he wakes up before everyone else, gets ready for the day and heads out for a morning run. As he slows down from the run to watch the sunrise, the sky a haze of pinks and orange, the air cool, Ian says the name to himself. Mikhailo. He can’t wait to see Mickey later on in the day.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading


End file.
